Word: kellers
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...change has not been easy for Keller, a legendary control freak. Team member Kristen Armstrong, a psychologist and executive coach, worked on Keller's behavior. Says he: "I am a chef. I am used to controlling. I didn't like delegating. But over the past two years she has helped me a lot with that." But even with Armstrong's coaching, Keller still yearns to stay hands...
...Thomas wants to touch everything. He trusts his instincts, and he trusts his eye," says Adam Block, Keller's restaurant agent and a council member. "He wants to be there when a decision has to be taken." In Keller's arena there is no margin for error. He charges $135 a person for his tasting menu at the French Laundry, not including wine, and if quality slips even a fraction, his customers won't return. "Our industry is so fragile," says Keller. "The media builds you up, and then it tears you down...
...Keller is painfully aware of the influence of the media. Born in California, he began working in a Palm Beach, Fla., restaurant run by his mother, and after serving apprenticeships at top restaurants in France, arrived in New York City in the monied mid-'80s, attracting a lot of media attention when he opened his restaurant Rakel in 1986. But when the market crashed in 1987 and Rakel struggled, Keller was savaged in the press. "My credibility was low after Rakel failed. I was labeled the chef who couldn't control food or labor costs...
...left New York and wandered the country, consulting for different restaurants before visiting Napa in 1992, where he came across the French Laundry. He pulled together a group of investors and opened in 1994. Keller thrived in the bucolic calm of the wine country. His manner mellowed, and he got his infamous temper under control. Keller's father was a Marine drill instructor. "He used to tear people apart and then build them up again. I used to be like that. But now if I shout at someone, I get embarrassed." He moved into the house behind the Laundry with...
...attracting retail outlets and restaurants to the new corporate headquarters of Time Warner, the company that publishes this magazine, going up on Columbus Circle at a corner of Central Park in Manhattan. Himmel had five restaurant spaces to fill and needed a megastar to anchor the project. Even though Keller had left New York under a cloud, Himmel was betting he could lure him back. The enticement was prime location--floor space in one of the most exclusive parts of the city, with a postcard view of the park...